State investigators are looking into an officer-involved shooting in Bartow County that left a Canton man dead.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it was called in by the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office to independently investigate the shooting, which happened the afternoon of March 17.
According to the GBI, Bartow County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Bartow Cartersville Drug Task Force agents were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on 45-year-old Justin Eric Hardin as part of a drug investigation. Deputies initiated a vehicle stop in the parking lot of the Days Inn motel off Highway 20 in Cartersville.
Hardin did not comply. He drove away from the initial stop, and deputies pursued him a short distance before performing a PIT maneuver on his SUV beneath the overpass at the intersection of Interstate 75 and Highway 20.
Once the vehicle was stopped, deputies ordered the occupants to get out. A passenger, 44-year-old Angela Green of Acworth, exited the vehicle and was taken into custody. Hardin refused to comply with commands to exit.
Deputies deployed OC spray into the vehicle in an attempt to force Hardin out. When that did not work, deputies approached the SUV and broke the driver’s side window. That is when, according to the GBI, Hardin pointed a firearm at deputies and fired. Deputies returned fire, striking Hardin.
Hardin was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were injured.
Investigators say a large amount of suspected methamphetamine was found inside the vehicle. Green was arrested in connection with the drug investigation and transported to the Bartow County Detention Center.
An autopsy on Hardin is scheduled to be performed at the GBI’s Medical Examiner’s Office.
The GBI says once its independent investigation is complete, the case file will be turned over to the Bartow County District Attorney’s Office for review.
